Legislative Balance of Argentina Congress

The Legislative Balance is a quantitative measurement of the work of the Congress of the Argentine Nation; This index, together with the following qualitative analysis, serves to evaluate the quality of the work of our Congress and its debates.

On March 1, President Mauricio Macri opened the ordinary session by proposing an agenda “with concrete challenges, but without ignoring the importance of other significant issues.” The economic situation of the following months and the veto of the tariff law did not take long to show that the government was not willing to take risks. 2018 ends with the least legislative production since the return of democracy and a carefully controlled agenda from the Executive Branch.

Between March and November, the Congress sanctioned 36 laws, of which more than half were promoted by the governing party (Executive Power and pro-government legislators). Far from the invitation to work on a joint agenda, the number of laws proposed by the opposition is decreasing, from 73% in 2016 to 22% in 2018.

Unlike in previous years, in 2018 economic initiatives dominated, among them, the laws of productive financing, defense of competition, buy Argentine and, of course, the debated budget with which the government will try to reach zero deficit and respond to the commitments made with the IMF. However, these will not be the laws for which we will remember this year as a true turning point.

This year, he left a low number of laws, it’s true. However, it will also be remembered as the year in which Congress exhibited an open and plural form of debate. The projects for the decriminalization of abortion brought together more than 750 exhibitors, who presented equally to the two conflicting positions. Jurists, scientists, religious leaders, artists, intellectuals, representatives of civil organizations, people who came to give their personal testimony, passed through the halls of Congress.

Beyond the number of sessions or laws, 2018 will be remembered as the year in which the legislative debate once again crossed and mobilized the entire Argentine society.